Vending machine for refrigerated articles



Filed May 16, 1938 3 Sheets-She t 2 Patented May 21,

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VENDING MACHINE FOR REFRIGERATED ARTICLESCharles 1-. Wood, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application May 16, 1938; Serial No. 208,207

1 Claim." (01. 312-36) that character considerable difficulty has beenexperienced in being able to deliver a properly refrigerated package.Vending machines heretofore devised have held a suitable supply of therefrigerated articles which -are delivered from,

the machine followingtheinsertion of a coin. When a considerable timeelapses between consecutive sales by the machine it has .been generallyfound that the first one ormore articles I delivered from the machineare usually soft. It

is, of course, highly desirable to be able to delivera refrigeratedcommodity which will 'be hard or properly refrigerated at all times, andalthough a considerable time may elapse between consecutive sales, thefirst article delivered-after :nuelapseof time will be delivered inproper con- I have discovered that the reason for the is usuallymaintained in a-refrigerated chamber and kept in stacked positiontherein. Frequent- I 1y, there is a'pocket or a. depression in thebottom surface of the storage chamber in which the lowermost article ofthe stack, which is the next article to be delivered, is allowed toremain until the next sale. Sometimes the sides of the lowermost articleor that article which is next to be delivered are enclosed by thestructure of the vending machine. Either design is detrimental to thepreserving of the lowermost article of the stack in proper refrigeratedcondition. If a pocket is formed in the bottom of the storage chamberwithin which the lowermost article is "disposed, I find that cold air inthe storage cham- 5 her does not enter into or settle in the pocketstorage chamber may be'many degrees below freezing, the temperature inthe pocket is not sumcient to keep the refrigeratedarticle in .aproperly refrigerated or salable condition.

.' Where the lowermost article of the stack or g supply i largelysurrounded by vending mafrom the stack.

chine structure, the surrounding structure'has the tendency ofprotecting the article from the cold air circulating in the storagechamber and this prevents the lowermost article of the stack,- or thatarticle which is next to be sold, from be- 5 ing maintained in propercondition.

The second feature of design of the vending machine that has the effectofwarming up or softening up that article that is next tobe sold residesin the fact that the withdrawing mechanism is usually operated by ametal handle which serves to open a door from the storage chamber and toeject or discharge the lowermost article When the 1 handle extendsthrough the door or is so designed that there is 15 a direct metallicconnection between the inside face of the door and the external handle,I find that a remarkable amount of heat is transferred through thehandle and the metallic connection by conduction. The heat thusconducted tothe 20 interior of the storage chamber from the handle isalso effective to cause the lowermost article of the stack to warm up orsoften up. w

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved vendingmachine for vend- 25 ing refrigerated articles wherein the supply ofarticles to be sold is kept in stack form in the storage chamber and thestorage chamber is so designed as to avoid pockets at the bottom thereofand to be conducive to thedevelopment of cir- 30 culation of cold air inthe storage chamber so that the cold air may circulate freely andrapelapse between consecutive sales, the first article 40 delivered willbe in a good salable condition.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be mademanifest in the following detailed description and specifically pointedout in a 2' f the appended claim, reference is bad to the accompanyingdrawings for an illustrative embodiment of theinvention, wherein:

Figure 1 is aviewin front; elevation of the improved vending machine,the door being bro- 5o ken away to show thelguides for :the stacks ofarticlesinside the storage chamber;

Fig. 2 is a view .in side elevation of the vending machine;

Fig. 3 is a partial vertical section taken substantially upon the line3-3 upon Fig. 1 in the direction indicated;

Fig. 4 isa horizontal section taken substanwherein similar referencecharacters designate similar parts throughout, the improved vendingmachine comprises a suitable cabinet which proyides a lower compressorcompartment, generally designated at l0, and an upper storagecompartment, generally designated at H. In the lower compartment Hithere may be disposed any suitable form of motor-driven compressor orthe .equivalent for compressing a refrigerating medium which expandswithin a cooling coil I2 disposed adjacent the back of the storagechamber ll. Any suitable form of cooling mechanism may be employed forrefrigerating the storage chamber H. In the preferred form ofconstruction, however, the expansion coil is preferably arranged at theback of the storage chamber and above the bottom thereof.

The storage chamber has its front wall normally closed by a hinged doorI 4 which is locked in closed position by' means of a suitable latch l5provided with a lock ii. In the forward wall of the cabinet there isalso provided a suitable opening I! through which the articles purchasedare discharged. In back of this opening, there'is' formed an inclinedchute l3 which may receive articles from any of the stacks in thestorage chamber. The articles, when released and removed from thestorage chamber, slide downwardly and forwardly on the chute I 8 and areremoved by the purchaser through the opening 11.

In the front wall of the cabinet also there is disposed a coin-receivingopening lfl'from which a coin deposited in the machine passes to asuitable coin mechanism, the cover for which is designated at 20.Theparticular form of coin mechanism forms no part of the presentinvention and therefore is not illustrated herein. In the preferredembodiment, however, it includes a suitable slug ejector.

The function of the coin mechanism is such that when a coin is depositedin the opening l9,

rod 2i (see Fig. 6) is released so that this rod may be moved forwardly.The rod 2| is connected to, a bellcrank or cam 22 pivoted at 23. Whenrod 2| is released the bellcrank or cam 22 may be rotated in a clockwisedirection. a

The vending machine is equipped with one or more reciprocating handlesindicated at-25. I have illustrated these handles as being four innumber, there being one handle for each stack of articles of varyingflavors stored within thestorage chamber ll. Associated with each handleis a door, the details of which will'hereinafter be more fullydescribed. I

In operation, when a coin is 'deposited in the coin slot I! thepurchaser then selects the proper handle associated with the flavor ofthe article that he desires and pulls that handle forwardly. Thiseffects a discharge of the lowermost article of the stack with which thehandle is associated from the storage chamber II and the article is'wardly, the knife edge at 23 engages, the lefthand end of its adjacentcooperating bar or plate 23 and shifts the same from left to right. Whenthe plate or plates 23 move toward the right as the pull rod 23a ispulled forwardly, then bellcrank 22 is moved in a clockwise direction,this being permitted by the releaseof rod 21 on the insertion of a coin.When any pull rod is pulled forwardly, it prevents all plates 23 to theleft of the pull rod from sliding toward the right. Consequently, nopull rod to the left of that which has been pulled forwardly can bepulled to withdraw an article from its stack. Those plates 28 which areto the right of the pull rod are shifted thereby a distance equal to thewidth of the pull rod and these consequently, lock all pullrods to theright against being pulled forwardly. Consequently, when one coin isdeposited only one pull rod may be pulled forwardly to .release anarticle from its stack.

When the rod 2| is moved forwardly it has the effect of releasing andclearing the coin-controlled mechanism so that when the pull rod 23a isreturned to its initial position the machine is then in condition toreceive a subsequent 'coin and to vend a subsequent article.

Upon the release of the pull rod it is returned to its initial positionby means of a cable 31 and a spring 53 and the bellcrank 22 and theplates 28 are returned to their initial positions by a spring, notshown, which is operable thereon.

By the above-described constructiom'it is possible on the insertion of asingle coin to procure one.article of any desired flavor but it isimpossible to pull forwardly more than one handle 25 upon the insertionof a single coin.

Within the storage chamber, '1 have illustrated four stacks of packagedbars of ice cream, one stack being directly in back of each handle 23.These stacks are supported within suitable guides as shown on Fig. 4,wherein each guide has side portions 30 and 3| engageable with the endsof the articles of the stack and rear portions 32 and 33 engageable withthe rear sides of the articles of the stack. The forward sides of thearticles of the stack are engaged by strips or flanges 34 and 35 whichare hingedly connected as at 33 and 31, respectively, to theforward'outwardly bent portions to the sides 33 and 3|. These strips orflanges can be thus swung forwardly to open the guides for .the stackstheir complete width to enable refilling each guide by merely moving astack of articles to be sold into its respective guide means through theopen front afforded by the opening of the strips or flanges 33 and 33.

Locking bars 33 are pivotally connected to each flange or strip 35 andare engageable with studs on each strip or flange 34 to lock thesehinged flanges in closed position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The guidesterminate at their lower ends a short distance above rails 39 and 40which are supported above the bottom of the storage chamber ll.Theserails 33 and 40 are relatively narrow as compared with the lengthof the articles and are spaced apart a distance approximately equal tothe length of each article or package in the stack so that air mayfreely cirguide has a flared entrance which facilitates the insertion ofa renewing stack of articles.

The rails 39 and 40 extend from adjacent the forward side of thestoragechamber to adjacent the back thereof and slidingly a drawer-likeejecting mechanism which includes a pair of side bars 42 and 43preferably constructeddrom strips of relatively thin sheet metal havinga width approximately equal to the vertical height of one of thearticles in the stack, the bars 42 and '43 being joined at' their rearends by a rear member 44 adjacent which there are disposed spacers 45and 46. The side bars 42 and 43 and the spacers 45 and 46 are ofapproximately the same width as the rails 39 and 48 and disposed beneatha roller 41 rotatably mounted on brackets 48 rigidly secured to therails 39 and 48, respectively, the brackets 48 preventing lateraldisplacement of the drawer-like ejector from the rails while the roller41 extending'across the side bars 42 and 43 rotatably engages these barsand the spacers 45 and 46 to prevent inadvertent lifting. of thedrawer-like ejector from the rails 39 and 40. The spacers 45 and 46 areof the same height as the side bars and this height of the side bars .issubstantially equal to the thickness (the ver- The 'fortical height) ofa package or article. ward ends of the side bars are connected to arubber projection 49 formed on the rear side of each door 59 which opensthe storage chamber.

a This door preferably comprises soft and hard engageable with theforward edge of the top ofrubber integrally molded. The projection 49 ispreferably formed of hard rubber and the balance soft rubber. Thebox-like structure formed by the rubber is filled with a suitable heatinsulating material indicated at 5911. Each boxlike door 50 is designedto enter and seat in a door seat 5| formed of hard rubber. In thepreferred form of construction the projection 49 enters and fills theopening 52 at the back of the door seat. The top of the box-likestructure slides beneath the top of the seat and at its forward end isprovided with a soft rubberlip 53 the door seat. The side walls of thedoor seat are downwardly and rearwardly inclined as indicated at 54 anda corresponding shoulder 55 which is of soft rubber and which is formedon thesides, of the door is engageable therewith. Thus, when the door isin seated or closed position, projection 49 fills the opening v52 in thedoor seat and double seals are formed, one being at the front and theother being at the back of the door preventing ingress ofheat andair tothe storage chamber. The rear end of each pull rod 25a is attached toits respective door such as by screws 58. These screws, as will be notedfrom Fig. 4, do not extend entirely through the projection 49. I Thus,there is no direct metallic connection between any handle 25 and theinterior of the storage chamber'nor is there any metal connectionexposed on the exterior of the cabinet which is also exposed on theinterior of the door. Consequently, heat may not be conducted from theexterior of the cabinet to the a spring 59 urging the slide formed bytheside members 42 and 43 into normal rearmost posiinterior to warm orsoften the lowermost block.

of any stack that is about to be discharged.

A cable 51 is attached to the rear transverse through the opening H.

the initial position.

tion wherein the door is closed.

The operation and advantages of the abovedescribed construction are asfollows: When a coin is deposited in the coin slot 19, rod2l isreleased. Any handle 25 may then bepulled forwardlybut by virtue of theconstruction illustrated in Figs 6 and 7, no more than one handle'member 44 and is trained over a pulley 58 to.

may be pulled forwardly at one time. On pull- 4 ticle of the stack whichis resting on the rails 39 and 40 between side members. 42 and 43', isslid forwardly through the opening in the door seat which is vacated byprojection 49. It then falls onto chute l8 and is removed by thepurchaser on release of the handle, spring 59 returns the slide and doorinto When the slide is in its forward position the spacers 45 and 46slide beneath the stack to occupy the position previously occupied bythe lowermost article. When the spacers 45 and 46 are returned to theirnormal position the stack is allowed to fall, thus depositing asucceeding package or article of the stack on rails 39 and 48 betweenthe side members 42 and.43.-

As. indicated by arrow on Fig. 3, the arrangement of the cooling coilsat the back of thestorage chamber causes a circulation of air to begenerated within. the storage chamber in the manner indicated. The coldair descending from the cooling coils may flow downwardly betweenthespacers 45 and 46 against the rear side of'the package or article thenbeneath the bottom surface of the lowermost package or article which issupported on rails 39 and 40, and then upwardly between the forward sideof the lowermost package or article and projection 49. Thus three sidesof the package next to be vended are subjected to the cooling eifect ofthe cold As the sides 42 and 43 are formed of metal, they do notinsulate the ends of the package next to be vended from the coolingeffect of this cold air. Consequently, with the present machine, even'though considerable timemay elapse between succeedihg sales, thelowermost artlcle'will always be delivered in a crisp, hard condition.It will be noted that the lowermost article of each stack is notdisposed within any depression or cavity at .the bottom of the storagechamber which would form a space of quiescent air that would retard thefree circulation of cold air around the lowermost article. Consequently,with the present construction the article'to be vended next is usuallythe coldest article of the entire supply.

In order to prevent operation of any handle 25 when its stack has becomeexhausted, I prefer to position a wooden block 60 of the same size andshape as an article of the stack with the jection 49, it preventsoperation of its correspondin Dull rod.

when it is desired to refill the cabinet. this is easily accomplished byopening the door l4, lift- 4 ing the locking bars 38 and swingingoutwardly strips or flanges 34 and 35. These open the forward side ofeach guide means entirely so'th at a replacing stack may be bodilyshifted into the guide means. In this way the cabinet may be quicklyrefilled with a minimum loss of refrigeration in the storage cabinet.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined by theappended claim.

I claim:

In a vending machine for vending refriger-' ated articles ofsubstantially uniform shape and size, having a storage chamber and aneidt through which articles may be vended one at a time, the combinationtherewith of a channel forming means defining a vertically extendingchannel for receiving and holding a stack of the articles piled one uponthe other and having a horizontal cross section substantially equal tothe horizontal cross section of one of the articles, said channel meansterminating at its lower end in spaced relation to the bottom of saidstack, a pair of rails extending across the lower end of said channeland spaced below the lower end thereof by a distance substantially equalto the vertical height of one of the articles in the stack, said railsbeing adapted to engage the lower face of the lowermost article tosupport the stack in from a normal inner position to an outer ejectingposition and having a pair of side bars so spaced from each other as toengage only the end faces of ,the lowermost article, and a pair ofspacer blocks of less length than said bars and rails, one secured toeach side bar, each of said spacer blocks having a vertical height equalto the height of said side bar and a width not to exceed the width ofone of said rails, the front ends of said spacer blocks in the normalinner position of the drawer-like member terminating at points invertical alignment with the rear of the channel forming means whereby topermit the lowermost article of the stack to drop onto said rails and tosupport the next lowermost article as the lowermost article is ejectedfrom the stack, the construction being such that when said ejector meansis in either of its positions a relatively large area of the lowestarticle is free from engagementwith the respective supporting'means,

andrneans to guidingly retain said drawer+like ejector member on saidrails during movement. CHAS. F. WOOD.

